Stomping Through the Savoy Cocktail Book

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Sunset Cocktail
(6 People)Place in a large glass the thinly-cut rind of an orange, or of a tangerine if an orange cannot be obtained. Add a teaspoonful of peach preserve, a large apricot and its crushed kernel. Pour upon the whole a full glass of Brandy and a small spoonful of Kirsch. Let this soak for two hours. Then transfer the mixture into the shaker and add half a glass of White Wine, a glass and half of Gin, and a glass of French Vermouth. Add plenty of ice. Shake and Serve.

Method: Combine Apricot, Apricot Pit, Brandy, Kirsch, Jam, and Orange Peel. Let stand for a couple hours. Transfer to a large mixing tin, add the dry vermouth and gin. Ice and shake gently. Double strain into medium size glasses and top up with Sparkling Wine.

Well, at least the recipe, if not the technique, is slightly less annoying.

I increased the jam quotient since I decided to include the sparkling wine. It has a tendency to dry out cocktails more than regular wine would. Suggest shaking gently or even rolling to prevent pulverizing the apricot. You will want to double strain to catch those apricot and fruit pieces. You may need a spoon to encourage the liquid’s passage through the strainer.

With all that work, you would hope that it was at least tasty, and indeed, it is pretty darn tasty.

In fact, the warning, “The next thing you know about is Sunrise,” seemed a bit apt, far more easy drinking than it’s alcohol content would suggest. I would not suggest drinking all “6” Sunset Cocktails yourself, even if your wife is out of town and you aren’t driving anywhere. You will probably regret it.

*Right Gin was sent to me by a firm promoting the brand.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

Dilute a teaspoonful of apricot jam (1/2 teaspoon Bonne Maman Apricot Jam) in a glass of Abricotine (1 oz Vedrenne Liqueur de Abricot). Add a teaspoonful of Peach Bitters (1/2 teaspoon Fee’s Peach Bitters), slightly less than two glasses of Gin (2 oz Beefeater’s Gin) and 2 1/2 glasses of French Vermouth (2 1/2 oz French Vermouth). Place this mixture in a shaker and put it on the ice to cool (in the freezer). When quite cold pour in two or three glasses of crushed ice and shake well. Strain into cocktail glass.

The amounts in the parenthesis are for 2 relatively modern size drinks instead of 6 tiny 1930s era drinks.

More odd instructions, to be sure. And everyone thinks pre-prohibition cocktails are easy! A pleasant enough result, however. The Sweet version of the Apricot cocktail is definitely an after dinner drink, but it nicely highlights the nutty flavor of the apricot liqueur.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.